Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin believes if the regular season is any indication, the Pine Tree Conference Class B quarterfinals could hold some excitement for Eastern Maine football fans.

“I think, with the exception of the 1-8 matchup, there are some pretty good matchups,” Parlin said. “You’ve got some teams that played some real good regular season games against each other. The Waterville-Gardiner game, Waterville fumbled that one away (in a 23-6 Gardiner win). It was a good game with us and MDI for three quarters and we pulled away at the end. Brewer and Hampden (Friday night) had a slug-out (which Hampden won, 35-28). So I think there are going to be some really interesting first round matchups.”

Whether the first round holds any surprises remains to be seen. There weren’t a lot of surprises with how the final Crabtree standings lined up. Unbeaten Leavitt and Wells earned the top seeds in Class B. Unbeaten Bucksport and Yarmouth took the top spots in Class C.

Top seeds usually breeze through the first round, but not always. Last year in Eastern Class A (which has only four teams in the playoffs this year), No. 8 Brunswick upset No. 1 Lawrence. 

More often, though, it is the 4-5 game that is a toss-up, and 3-6 meetings can sometimes be very competitive.

“Usually the 4 and 5 is probably the best match-up of the first series,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan, whose team will host a 4-5 matchup with Winslow next Saturday. “But boy, I’ll tell you what, looking at our conference this year, I think there are some pretty nice teams down there at 6 or 7 or 8 that are playing, too.”

Unlike Eastern B, where a number of the games are rematches of tight regular season meetings, Western C has only one rematch because all of the games pit teams from the South vs. the North. Yarmouth will host No. 8 Oak Hill (3-5), which it trounced, 51-7 in Week 2. No. 7 Dirigo (4-4) travels to No. 2 Traip (6-2), a team it did not meet in the regular season. No. 3 Maranacook (7-1) hosts No. 6 Freeport (5-3).

After starting the season 4-0, Lisbon went 2-2 in the final month, with wins over Sacopee Valley and Winthrop and losses to Yarmouth and Traip.

Minus five starters suffering from various injuries, Lisbon beat Winthrop last week, 27-7. Mynahan said he could have at least one of those starters back next week.

“I thought we played really well Friday night. We had a couple of young kids out there that started for us that had never played for us in a starting position and they did well,” Mynahan said. “We’ve got a lot of kids out, but the kids that we’re putting in there are very energetic, enthusiastic and happy to be there. It’s difficult to say how we’ll make out against a team like Winslow.”

Lisbon and Winslow scrimmaged in the preseason but did not meet in the regular season.

“They’re a good team and they’re pretty much a solid team,” Mynahan said. “I’ve seen them on film and we’ll probably exchange film (Monday). But I know that they’re a well-disciplined and well-coached team.”

As expected, Leavitt’s 22-17 victory over Mt. Blue on Oct. 7 decided home field in Eastern B. Leavitt, the two-time defending PTC champion and winner of 30 consecutive conference games, will host No. 8 Morse (4-4), which it handled, 50-24, in Week 3. No. 7 Mount Desert Island (5-3) will face No. 2 Mt. Blue (6-1). Those two teams also met in Week 3, in Bar Harbor. The Cougars pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 50-26 win.

This time, MDI will be making the long but trip to Farmington, where Kemp Field, the Cougars’ temporary home while the high school undergoes construction, will host its first playoff game.

“We were just hoping to get as many home games as possible, so we’re really kind of happy about it,” Parlin said.

The other Eastern B games pit No. 3 Gardiner (6-2) against No. 6 Waterville (4-4) and No. 4 Brewer (6-2) vs. No. 5 Hampden Academy (5-3).

With its 20-14 win over Cape Elizabeth Friday, defending Class B state champion Mountain Valley (7-1) clinched the No. 2 seed in Western B and the right to face No. 7 Spruce Mountain (4-4) . That means, if both teams get that far, the Falcons would have to go through Wells in Wells, which beat them, 28-12, in Week 6, to defend their title.

“That makes little difference to us,” Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward said. “I sometimes like the idea of the kids having a long bus ride where you go and be together and focus. It’s a little distracting at home. On the other hand, we’ll take it.”

For the second straight week, Wells hosts No. 8 York (3-5).  No. 3 Cape Elizabeth (6-2) hosts No. 6 Greely (5-3) and No. 4 Falmouth (6-2) hosts No. 5 Westbrook (4-4) in the other quarterfinals.

Mountain Valley blanked Spruce Mountain, 42-0, in Week 3, but the Falcons won’t be taking their quarterfinal opponent for granted to consider a possible semifinal rematch with Cape.

“I’ve been around long enough to know  the most important game is next Friday night. I’m not even going to worry about anything else because there’s no guarantee there will be an after that,” Aylward said. “We’ve got to work our butts off this week, one practice at a time, to try to get another week of football. That’s really how you live this time of year.”